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Thousands of migrants began to leave the crowded Calais camp on Oct. 24, 2016, as French authorities prepared to dismantle the settlement. (Published Monday, Oct. 24, 2016)

Crews in hard hats and orange jumpsuits on Tuesday started dismantling a makeshift camp in France that has become a symbol of Europe's migrant crisis while thousands of people remained there waiting to be relocated.

The workers used their gloved hands to tear down flimsy plywood shelters, tarp-covered huts and other temporary buildings at the camp in the port city of Calais known as "the jungle." Backhoes, construction dumpsters and trucks carted off the debris.

Dozens of migrants pushed barriers and jumped over railings to get to the temporary processing center at the camp, the first step to being relocated elsewhere in France and the chance to apply for asylum.

Most identified themselves as unaccompanied minors with relatives across the English Channel in the United Kingdom.

Hassan Ali, a 25-year-old Pakistani who was among the crowds at the gates to the processing center early in the morning, said he was excited to get resettled and that his 3-month stay at the Calais camp had been "an experience of life."

Ali said he hoped to return to university and find a job in France, having been unable to make it to Britain.

On Monday, authorities started emptying people from the makeshift camp that emerged 18 months ago on the French side of the English Channel as the first step toward its demolition.

To discourage migrants from congregating in Calais and trying to board a ferry or truck to Britain, authorities last year destroyed half the camp in a haphazard and sometimes violent way that drew criticism from human rights groups.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the journey from the "jungle," upbeat migrants stepped off buses in regions all around France to local welcomes.

Thirty-two Sudanese and one Afghan migrant arrived from Calais to a reception and orientation center in Chatellerault, in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region, on Monday evening and were welcomed by local authorities.